Sebastian Vettel kept his composure through a fragmented qualifying session at Suzuka to claim his fourth pole position of the season for Red Bull Racing.

The young German’s world title hopes may be hanging by a thread but he at least kept them intact with a commanding performance in a car tailor-made for Suzuka’s fast sweeps.

Jarno Trulli came within 0.06s of giving Toyota pole at its home event and will start alongside Vettel on the front row, with Lewis Hamilton third and Adrian Sutil an outstanding fourth for Force India.

Jenson Button is aiming to clinch the world championship in Sunday’s race but did not give himself the best platform by qualifying seventh, two places behind Brawn GP team-mate and title rival Rubens Barrichello.

The session was punctuated by no fewer than three red flags as the lack of dry running time ahead of qualifying led drivers to misjudge the available grip and step over the limit.

McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and Toro Rosso drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari all fell foul of the tricky Degner curve which had claimed Mark Webber’s Red Bull in morning practice, while Timo Glock crashed head-first into the tyre barriers at the final corner.

The Toyota driver was taken to hospital for treatment to a minor left leg wound and precautionary checks, but appears to have escaped serious injury.

The drama started early in the first knockout session, when Buemi understeered wide in the fifth-gear first part of Degner and backed his Toro Rosso into the tyre barrier.

It was a fairly minor hit, however, and the Swiss rookie was able to extract his car from the gravel, return to the pits for a new rear wing, and impressively get straight back on the pace to book himself a place in Q2.

His team-mate Alguersuari was less fortunate when he erred at the same place early in Q2, suffering a heavy frontal impact that brought out the first red flag.

The session had barely got going again when Glock crashed in unusual fashion – running wide under acceleration out of the chicane, drifting off-line through the final right-hand bend onto the start/finish straight and plunging straight into the tyre wall.

It was a sickening impact, and although Glock remained conscious it took several minutes to extricate him from the cockpit.

He was stretchered into an ambulance and taken to a local hospital, from where the early reports were encouraging.

The final red flag was triggered early in Q3 by yet another crash at Degner, this time a rearward impact for Kovalainen, who had already survived a spectacular spin at the same corner in Q1.

The upshot was a hectic conclusion to Q3 in which drivers were restricted to a single run rather than the usual two.

Vettel usually excels in such high-pressure circumstances, and duly set a strong benchmark of 1m32.160s that withstood the challenges from all his rivals in the dying minutes.

Trulli came closest – although his time may have been flattered by the time-honoured Toyota policy of qualifying with a light fuel load in a bid for home glory – while third was better than expected for Hamilton at a track that doesn’t favour the McLaren.

Sutil’s stellar performance suggests Force India is now a force to be reckoned with everywhere, not just on low-downforce circuits.

The Brawn drivers – and Button in particular – were hampered by understeer in the first sector, whose high-speed direction changes calls for a neutral-to-oversteer balance, but were quick around the rest of the track.

Barrichello was pleased to outqualify Button on a similar fuel load, but must make his advantage count on race day if he is to stay in realistic title contention.

Nick Heidfeld qualified a strong sixth for BMW, sandwiching the Brawns, with Kimi Raikkonen eighth for Ferrari and Kovalainen a disappointed ninth after his prang.

Buemi’s eventful session continued in Q2 when he lost control out of the Spoon curve and swiped the barrier.

Once again he dragged his Toro Rosso back onto the circuit, but as he did so he littered the track with assorted debris including his front wing, bringing out yellow flags that ruined several drivers’ last-ditch efforts.

Nico Rosberg (Williams), Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Robert Kubica (BMW) thus found themselves mired in 11th, 12th and 13th respectively.

Giancarlo Fisichella failed to advance beyond Q1 and will start his third race for Ferrari from a lowly 16th place.

There was disappointment, too, for Kazuki Nakajima in front of his home crowd, the Williams driver also falling at the first hurdle and qualifying 17th ahead of Renault rookie Romain Grosjean and Force India’s Tonio Liuzzi.

Webber didn’t even turn a wheel in the session after damaging his Red Bull beyond repair in his morning practice crash.

His mechanics will build up a new chassis for the race, but Red Bull now has a mountain to climb if it is to deny Brawn the constructors’ championship.



Japanese GP starting grid
1.  VETTEL        Red Bull     
2.  TRULLI        Toyota       
3.  HAMILTON      McLaren       
4.  SUTIL         Force India   
5.  BARRICHELLO   Brawn        
6.  HEIDFELD      BMW          
7.  BUTTON        Brawn        
8.  RAIKKONEN     Ferrari      
9.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren       
10. BUEMI         Toro Rosso    
11. ROSBERG       Williams     
12. ALONSO        Renault       
13. KUBICA        BMW          
14. GLOCK         Toyota       
15. ALGUERSUARI   Toro Rosso    
16. FISICHELLA    Ferrari
17. NAKAJIMA      Williams     
18. GROSJEAN      Renault      
19. LIUZZI        Force India   
20. WEBBER        Red Bull   

Kimi Raikkonen admitted he is “very sad” to be leaving Ferrari at the end of the season after the team agreed with the Finn to terminate his contract by mutual consent.

After months of speculation over whether or not Fernando Alonso would be joining the Italian squad in 2010, Ferrari finally confirmed on Wednesday that the Renault star would partner Felipe Massa in its line-up next season with Raikkonen making way.

Raikkonen – who joined Ferrari from McLaren in 2007 as its hand-picked replacement for the retired Michael Schumacher – had a year remaining on his deal with the team after signing a year extension last September, but in order to accommodate Alonso it is believed to have agreed a financial settlement with the Finn which sees him leave 12 months early.

While expressing sadness that his stay at Maranello is coming to an end, the 29-year-old says he leaves with many happy memories especially having won his one world title with the team during his debut season in 2007.

“With common consent, we have agreed to terminate the contract binding me to Ferrari to the end of 2010, one year ahead of schedule,” said Raikkonen.

“I am very sad to be leaving a team with which I have spent three fantastic years, during which time I won plenty of races.

“Together, we have won 50% of the world titles in that period and I managed to take the drivers’ title in 2007, thus achieving the target I had set myself at the start of my career.

“I have always felt at home with everyone here and I will have many happy memories of my time with the team.”

Raikkonen’s Ferrari exit looks increasing likely to pave the way for a surprise return to McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton.

But although the confirmation of its former driver’s Ferrari departure is set to increase the speculation about its own second driver choice for 2010, McLaren insisted on Wednesday that it has yet to decide on Hamilton’s team-mate.

A McLaren spokesman said: "As is already in the public domain, Lewis Hamilton is contracted until the end of the 2012 season.

“As regards the identity of our other driver for 2010 and beyond, we have not yet made a decision."

Raikkonen became just Ferrari's second world champion driver since Jody Scheckter in 1979 after beating McLaren's Hamilton and Alonso to the title by one point following a stunning fightback in the second half of his first season at the team.

However, amid a disappointing title defence in 2008, the Finn was eventually cast into a support role for less-heralded team-mate Massa as the Brazilian took the championship down to the final round in Brazil.

Raikkonen has re-emerged as one of F1's form men in recent months after scoring four straight podium finishes and Ferrari's sole win of the season at Spa amid an otherwise lacklustre season for the team, but it appears the upturn has come too late to convince his bosses to retain his services.

The Finn has won nine of the 49 races he has contested for the Scuderia to date – putting him joint fifth on its all-time list – while also claiming five poles and an impressive 16 fastest laps.

Ferrari has finally confirmed Formula 1’s worst-kept secret by announcing it has signed Renault's Fernando Alonso on a three-year deal from next season.

The double world champion will replace Kimi Raikkonen after Ferrari agreed to terminate its agreement with the Finnish driver one year early by mutual consent.

Alonso will therefore partner Felipe Massa in a strong-looking line-up at the Maranello-based outfit in 2010, with the Brazilian expected to return from injury in plenty of time for the first race in Bahrain next March.

Announcing the deal on its official website on Wednesday afternoon, Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said it was delighted to have secured the services of F1’s most successful active driver, while also thanking Raikkonen for his three years at the team.

“We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date,” said Domenicali in a statement after signing up Alonso to the end of 2012.

“Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari: in his first year with us, he managed to win the drivers’ title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari’s history and he played a vital role in our taking of the constructors’ title in 2007 and 2008.

“Even during a difficult season like this one, he has demonstrated his great talent, with several good results, including a great win in Spa and we are sure that we can share more good times together in the final three races of this season.”

An Alonso/Ferrari tie-up for 2010 - which is set to result in the Spaniard replacing Raikkonen as F1’s highest paid driver - has been strongly speculated about since the end of last season, despite Raikkonen having agreed a one-year extension to his Ferrari deal last September amid a difficult season for the then defending champion.

Alonso’s imminent Ferrari move will bring to an end his second spell with Renault, the Spaniard having rejoined the team he won his two world titles with in 2005-2006 at the start of last season after an unhappy single year at McLaren.

However, the 28-year-old's second period at Enstone has failed to hit the heights of the first, with the team's difficult 2009 season compounded in recent weeks by the turmoil of the race-fixing scandal - a controversy which resulted in team principal Flavio Briatore and engineering chief Pat Symonds resigning from the team.

The announcement of Alonso's Ferrari deal should now kick-start the rest of the 2010 driver market, with the grid having waited for the Maranello outfit to confirm its moves before deciding on their respective line-ups.

Raikkonen’s early release from his Ferrari contract appears likely to pave the way for a surprise return to McLaren alongside Lewis Hamilton, the Finn having left the Woking-based squad at the end of 2006 to join its arch rival.

Meanwhile, current BMW star Robert Kubica has been strongly tipped to replace Alonso at Renault, while Nico Rosberg is expected to make the off-season’s other big move and join championship-leader Brawn.

However, Mclaren are still not confirming Kimi is going to drive with the team for 2010, so stay tuned for that!

Ferrari are poised to announce that double world champion Fernando Alonso will join the team for 2010.

The Spaniard, 28, has signed a two-year contract with options to extend and will earn a salary in the region of 19-25 million euros (£17.3m-£22.8m).

The deal, which has been widely expected in Formula 1 for some time, is likely to be made public this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

He will partner Felipe Massa, with Kimi Raikkonen tipped to move to McLaren.

The Finn had a contract with Ferrari until the end of 2010, but the team have been in negotiations to move him to another team.

As part of the cascade of driver moves that will follow Alonso's switch, Pole Robert Kubica is tipped to fill the vacancy left by Alonso at Renault.

The most successful active driver in F1, Alonso signed his Ferrari contract as long ago as July 2008, according to sources close to the team.

The Italian team had been planning to announce it at the end of the season, but it has become such common knowledge that they have decided to bring that forward.

Alonso's contract runs to the end of 2011, but there are options for a further three years, which could mean he will drive for Ferrari until the end of 2014, when he will be 33.

A Ferrari spokesman said: "At this moment, there is nothing we can say. In the last few weeks, something has changed. We are talking to the drivers and when it is the proper time we will make an announcement."

The move brings to an end Alonso's relationship with the Renault team, for whom he has driven in all but two of his eight years in F1.

He was cleared of any involvement in the recent race-fixing scandal, in which Renault were found to have asked his team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix to aid Alonso's chances of victory.

Team boss Flavio Briatore and engineering director Pat Symonds left the team in the wake of Renault's decision not to contest the charges.

But an investigation by governing body the FIA found no evidence that Alonso, who did go on to win the race, knew of the conspiracy.

Alonso made his F1 debut for Minardi in 2001, moved to Renault as their test driver in 2002 and was promoted to their race team in 2003.

He became the youngest race-winner in F1 history when he won the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix, and its youngest world champion when he won his first drivers' title in 2005.

He has since lost those two records to Sebastian Vettel, who broke the win mark in Italy in 2008, and Lewis Hamilton when he became world champion last year.

Alonso went on to win a second consecutive championship in 2006, beating Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in a straight fight, before moving to McLaren as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate in 2007.

Alonso signed a three-year contract with McLaren, but he left after one season following a tempestuous relationship with the team. Hamilton and Alonso finished the season tied on points just a point behind the champion, Raikkonen.

Alonso rejoined Renault for 2008, winning in Singapore and, with on of his best performances, the following race in Japan, but the team have been uncompetitive this season. 

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali says Felipe Massa could start karting next week as his comeback bid from a near-fatal head injury gathers pace.

The Brazilian, 28, suffered a fractured skull at the Hungarian GP in July when a spring flew off Rubens Barrichello's Brawn car and hit him.

Massa had indicated he would return in a karting event in late November.

But Domenicali said: "He is working hard on training and next week he should go into the karting activity."

Ferrari initially stated that Massa, who recently had plastic surgery on the injury sustained when the spring hit him on the helmet above his left eye during qualifying for the Hungarian GP, would return to Formula 1 in 2010.

But such has been his progress that Domenicali has refused to rule out the possibility of him appearing again before the season is out.

There are three races left in 2009, with the finale in Abu Dhabi on 1 November.

"It is too early to say [whether he might race again this year]," Domenicali said after Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

"I don't want to exclude anything, but we need to be cautious. We need to see it step by step, and we don't have to anticipate anything.

"He will be back 100%, but there is no need to anticipate anything if there is something that is not ready."

He added: "Every day he is doing a check with his doctor, but not an official medical check."


Massa's karting comeback is geared towards the International Challenge of the Stars event Massa is set to star in on 28 November in Florianopolis, which features drivers from different motorsport categories including F1, Indy racing and stock cars.

Michael Schumacher and Barrichello are also expected to take part.

Giancarlo Fisichella, meanwhile, will continue to deputise for Massa with Ferrari, though the Italian is not finding it easy to adapt to the car after switching from Force India following the Belgian GP at the end of August. 

Silly Season continues as Ferrari fuel the media fire by showing hints at the Ferrari 2010 driver announcement coming soon. No exact date as been given but the Media now think the driver lineup might be announced at Suzuka with Felipe Massa / Fernando Alonso as their driver lineup.

The 'Fernando Alonso to Ferrari' saga could come to an end this weekend in Japan with Stefano Domenicali admitting that an announcement is possible.

Alonso has been linked to Ferrari for the past few seasons, however, instead of joining the Italian marque he swapped Renault for McLaren and then back to Renault.

The rumours, though, have continued to dog him and now it appears as if they may actually come to fruition.

Asked about an Alonso announcement in Suzuka, the Scuderia's team boss said: "It is a possibility, but it is not guaranteed.

"I think that as soon as we are ready we will let you know. We don't want to wait too long."

But Alonso's signing hinges on Kimi Raikkonen agreeing a pay-off as the Finn still has a year to run on his estimated £31 million per year Ferrari contract.

According to the Daily Telegraph, 'lawyers have been working overtime in Singapore to complete the final details of his pay-off.'

And once that is signed and sealed, McLaren are expected to announce they've bagged the Finn at a 'fraction of the price' while Ferrari will finally confirm Alonso.

Kimi Raikkonen finished the Singapore Grand Prix in tenth place, while his Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team-mate, Giancarlo Fisichella came home in thirteenth place. Having qualified in 12th and 17th places respectively, there was never a realistic chance of a great result on a street circuit, where overtaking is virtually impossible. Even the inevitable intervention of a Safety Car did nothing to improve the Scuderia duo’s situation.

Lewis Hamilton led from pole and went on to win, which means that his McLaren team are now a mere three points behind us in the battle for third place in the championship, as the first two positions have been locked out by Brawn and Red Bull for a long time now. Joining the reigning world champion on the podium, was Timo Glock second for Toyota and Fernando Alonso third for Renault. Against the most unique and spectacular night time backdrop of Singapore, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Kimi Raikkonen lined up on row 6 of the grid in twelfth spot, with Giancarlo Fisichella on the penultimate row in seventeenth place. Nick Heidfeld would start from pit lane in the BMW.

As the lights went out to start the fourteenth round of the World Championship, with a heat haze rising from the cars, Hamilton shot into the lead from pole and Rosberg immediately went to second, passing Vettel, who then had to fight off Alonso who got alongside the Red Bull in his Renault but not enough to get past. Webber maintained his grid place of fourth. Kimi dropped a place to thirteenth, while Giancarlo moved up one to 16th in the F60, both Ferraris getting pushed wide and bogged down in traffic. Grosjean was the first retirement, bringing his Renault into the pits on lap 3.

With lap times slower than last year – leader Hamilton had done a 1.49.172 at this stage – the race was going to go very close to the two hour limit, which in the heat and humidity would be a real test of man and machine.

On lap 5, Hamilton led from Rosberg, Vettel, Webber, Glock, Alonso, Barrichello, Kubica, Kovalainen, Button, Nakajima, Buemi, Raikkonen, Alguersuari, Sutil, Fisichella, Liuzzi, Trulli and Heidfeld. One lap later, the order changed as Glock and Alonso both got past Webber, who thus dropped to sixth. Kimi was two seconds behind twelfth man Buemi and Giancarlo was 2.4 adrift of Sutil. Although his engineer told him to disable the faulty KERS on the McLaren, Hamilton was still the fastest man on track, exploiting the advantage of having no one ahead of him. After 10 laps, Kimi’s times began to match those of Buemi ahead of him and the gap began to come down between them and on lap 11, the Finn got by comfortably to go twelfth. In 14th place, Alguersuari was slowing those behind, so that Sutil was just 0.6 behind him, with Giancarlo a further 0.6 behind, but coming under pressure from Liuzzi.

Lap 14 and Hamilton led Rosberg by 3 seconds, with Vettel 1.7 down on the Williams. Then came a big gap to fourth placed Glock, who had 5 seconds in hand over Alonso. The rest of the top ten had Webber in sixth, followed by Barrichello, Kubica, Kovalainen and Button. Vettel was the first to pit, coming in on lap 17, dropping from third to seventh, with Rosberg bringing the Williams in from second one lap later. Webber also came in at the same time from seventh, followed in by Giancarlo and Liuzzi. Glock who had moved up to second refuelled the Toyota on lap 19, with leader Hamilton in on lap 20.

The inevitable safety car now appeared, after Sutil tried to pass Alguersuari, which spun the Force India round, then collecting the BMW of Heidfeld. Naturally, this prompted a rush for the pits, as this was the window for most drivers’ first stop, including Kimi. Alguersuari tried to drive away with his fuel line still attached, knocking over a Toro Rosso refueller, but then got away again without further incident. The entire field had now made their first refuelling stop and were still running behind the SC on lap 24, when the order was Hamilton, Rosberg, Vettel, Glock, Alonso, Barrichello, Kovalainen, Button, Webber, Kubica, Nakajima, Kimi (12) Buemi, Trulli, Giancarlo (15,) Liuzzi, Alguersuari 17th and last as Sutil retired in the pit.

The SC came in to pit lane at the end of lap 25 and after such a long period tyres and brakes would have cooled significantly, providing less grip and braking. The entire field was back within ten seconds, from Hamilton to Alguersuari. Rosberg in second place was due to take a drive through for crossing the white line at the pit lane exit. The German came in for it on lap 27. The battle at the front was hotting up, as Vettel chased down Hamilton, the gap being 0.8 on lap 29. In third, Glock was a further 4.1 behind. In eleventh place, Kimi trailed Nakajima by 1.9 and had Buemi 1.0 behind, while in 15th, Giancarlo was 3.9 behind Rosberg, with Liuzzi 0.8 behind.

In 14th, Rosberg started the second run of stops on lap 34. Lap 37 and the lead battle was hotting up as Vettel was now just half a second off Hamilton. Fisichella moved up to 13th when Buemi refuelled on lap 38. Vettel pitted on lap 39 from second, while Buemi came in again as no fuel had gone in the car at the first stop. Vettel however was given a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane, which he took on lap 43. At this point, Kimi was tenth and Giancarlo 13th. Webber refuelled from ninth on lap 44, a long stop because of a problem with the right front wheel. The next lap saw Glock refuel his Toyota, which dropped him from second to sixth. Lap 45 and Webber put his car in the wall at Turn 3, as the leader Hamilton made his second stop. Kovalainen, Barrichello and Nakajima also refuelled as did Giancarlo. Alonso yet to make a second stop now led from Hamilton and Button, the Englishman also yet to refuel.

Kimi made his second stop on lap 52 and was tenth on lap 54. Out in front, Hamilton appeared to be heading for the win, his McLaren 7.1 ahead of the Toyota of Glock, with Alonso occupying the final podium position. As for the rest of the points places, Vettel was fourth, leading Button, Barrichello, Kovalainen and Kubica. With five laps remaining, Kimi was closing on Nakajima in ninth, but Kubica in the last points position was a further second ahead of the Japanese driver. The positions remained unchanged, with Ferrari thus ending a run of ten races in the points. Now there are just a few days, before the Scuderia has a chance to do better at Suzuka; a circuit where both it and its two drivers have a good track record.

Credit: Ferrari Media

For the 2009 season, the FIA are making public the weights of all cars ahead of the race start to help give an idea of relative fuel loads. The cars that made Q3 are weighed after qualifying, while the weights of the remaining cars must be declared by their teams shortly after the session.

Below is the provisional grid for the Singapore Grand Prix with each car's weight. Note - Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello has dropped from fifth to 10th after he was penalized for changing his car’s gearbox…

1. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 660.5kg
2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 651
3. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 657.5
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 654.5
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 658
6. Timo Glock, Toyota, 660.5
7. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 650
8. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 664
9. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 664.5
10. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 655.5
11. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 680.7
12. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 683
13. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 680.5
14. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 678
15. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 690.9
16. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 693
17. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 683.5
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Ferrari, 678.5
19. Romain Grosjean, Renault, 683
20. Vitantonio Liuzzi, Force India, 656

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen is back. The slow start to his 2009 campaign seems but a distant memory, and having taken four consecutive podiums, including an excellent win at August’s Belgian Grand Prix, Raikkonen is looking perkier than he has in a long time. But we’ll have to wait and see what the season’s four remaining races - and 2010 - have in store for the Finn…

Q: Kimi, towards the end of the season Ferrari are enjoying a successful streak. Why did it take so long and how frustrating was it to see the Brawns and Red Bulls win races, while you were sidelined in an uncompetitive car?
Kimi Raikkonen: Well, we weren’t in the right position at the beginning of the year, and we still don’t have the fastest car, but I think we’ve got the maximum out of the car. The people who are in front probably haven’t made any mistakes. What we need to improve? More downforce. Otherwise the car is pretty good. Downforce is what’s missing. When we achieve that, the car will be very fast.

Q: After taking victory in Belgium, at Monza you seemed to have your old fire back. How important was your win in Spa to you?
KR: One win doesn’t change my life. Does it make life easier when you win? I don’t think so. But it is always nice to win, even though the next race is the same old challenge again. If you win that’s nice, but people will forget that very fast. Many times it only takes one race and then people don’t remember that you’ve won. It was a good result for me and it was much welcomed in the team after the season so far.

Q: But didn’t winning help remind you that you haven’t lost it?
KR: No, I’ve never had doubts in that respect. You never lose that certain touch of how to drive a car. It was just a difficult 2009 season. But now we’ve proved that we can win. I think all these questions are more in the head of the people outside. It’s not about me or anybody in the team. And if you found me a bit more happy in Monza, believe me, there are many other reasons to feel happy than a race win.

Q: For a while you gave the impression that you could imagine more exciting places to be than a paddock on a race weekend. Are you friends again with Formula One racing?
KR: I think there are still more exciting places. Racing is the nicest thing in the paddock, and I am pretty sure that you wouldn’t see many drivers in the paddock if it wasn’t for racing. Take the racing out and I doubt that you would find any driver here. Racing is the main thing.

Q: You worked hard at the rally in Finland over the summer break. Could rallying be your future?
KR: I like it and I think it is a great sport, and good fun also. It is completely different to Formula One even though it is still driving. It might happen in the future, or it might not. But for sure I want to do more rallying, at least for fun. I will try to do it whenever I have the chance and it does not conflict with my other things. I think it is a great practice for Formula One and it gives me a good feeling.

Q: Ferrari have had their share of unlucky moments this season with a difficult car, a driver accident and now with a second reserve driver. How much has that upset the routine of the team?
KR: For sure it hasn’t been the easiest year for us, and it’s unfortunate that it’s happened, but we are getting back to where we should be. Sometimes times are difficult but then you have to make sure that you put all strength into getting back to where you belong. Sometimes in hard times you see what people are made off. That’s the good thing, as we are improving with every race.

Q: It’s common knowledge that you have a contract with Ferrari for 2010, but it seems the team have three drivers and only two cockpits. Are you interested in a drive? Will Ferrari have to make a decision by getting you all to play a round of musical chairs?
KR: I always can only repeat that I have a contract - and that has not changed. If they want to talk with me, we need to sit down to talk. I am fully committed, as otherwise I would not have signed the contract in the first place. Musical chairs… that would be a funny idea!

Q: The FIA found Renault guilty of deliberately causing an accident at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix. What do you make of that? Are drivers that vulnerable to the influence of their management?
Well, it doesn’t matter what you do, some people are easier to be manoeuvred into something than others. That has nothing to do with Formula One. And a person with little experience is always more vulnerable than somebody who has seen it all. I would say that what happened is part of life and can happen everywhere.

Q: Ferrari were a bit unlucky at last year’s night race. Are you ready for another go, with a better result?
RK: Ha, it shouldn’t be too difficult to have a better result than last year. Hopefully we manage to do it. There should be some points in it for us. A podium would be great but we will only know that tomorrow after hitting the track.

Q: Who is your favourite for the title, and why?
KR: I don’t really care who wins. We cannot win, so for me whoever wins deserves it. For me Jenson (Button) is in the strongest position and I think it would be difficult for him to lose it.

Kimi Raikkonen says he will need a lucky break from a safety car period or the weather to score any points in the Singapore Grand Prix.

Ferrari has been off the pace all weekend and Raikkonen could only qualify a lowly 13th, his worst grid spot since the Spanish Grand Prix in May.

“Unfortunately, today we were just not quick enough to get into Q3 and there was not much we could do about it,” he said.

“It’s difficult to overtake here, and we’re not suddenly going to be fast, so getting into the points will be very difficult.

“It’s true that anything can happen on a track like this and we will have to do our best to make the most of every opportunity.

“Hopefully we can be a bit lucky with the safety car or something.

“I guess that [rain] would give us a better chance, because this circuit probably will be very difficult in the wet conditions.”

Ferrari’s uncompetitiveness in Singapore was in marked contrast to its form at Spa just one month ago, where Raikkonen took the team’s only victory of the season so far.

The Finn attributed most of the drop-off to circuit characteristics, but also said the team would inevitably fall steadily behind its rivals as a result of its decision to stop developing the F60 and concentrate all its efforts on the 2010 car.

“For sure this is a more difficult circuit than the previous ones for our car,” he said.

“It’s much bumpier and unfortunately it’s not as good for us as maybe the last four.

“The problem is that everybody else is improving their cars and we are not, so it’s not going to get any easier in that way.

“We’re going to fall further [behind].”

Raikkonen qualified second and finished third on the Monaco street circuit earlier this year, but pointed out that Singapore “is not like Monaco, and Monaco was six months ago – the cars have changed a lot since then”.

The 2007 world champion said he understood the reasons for switching the team’s focus to the 2010 car despite the fact that Ferrari is trying to hold off a resurgent McLaren for third place in the constructors’ standings.

“We’re fighting for third place in the championship, but you want to fight for first place, so in that way we didn’t have anything to lose and I guess it’s the right choice,” he said.

Singapore Grand Prix grid

1.  HAMILTON        McLaren
2.  VETTEL          Red Bull
3.  ROSBERG         Williams
4.  WEBBER          Red Bull
5.  ALONSO          Renault
6.  GLOCK           Toyota
7.  HEIDFELD        BMW
8.  KUBICA          BMW
9.  KOVALAINEN      McLaren
10. BARRICHELLO     Brawn*
11. NAKAJIMA        Williams
12. BUTTON          Brawn
13. RAIKKONEN       Ferrari
14. BUEMI           Toro Rosso
15. TRULLI          Toyota
16. SUTIL           Force India
17. ALGUERSUARI     Toro Rosso
18. FISICHELLA      Ferrari
19. GROSJEAN        Renault
20. LIUZZI          Force India